


Something More

by FailWhale



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Conversations, Gen, Motivations, No Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:08:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24419413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FailWhale/pseuds/FailWhale
Summary: A conversation between Xehanort and Eraqus during their training.
Relationships: Eraqus & Xehanort (Kingdom Hearts)
Kudos: 5





	Something More

Moonlight illuminated Eraqus’ path through the castle as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was woken by footsteps earlier, and he had a feeling it was Xehanort. His sleeping problems had only started within the past few months, and being a mostly devoted student, he normally spent those sleepless hours in the library. He tiptoed his way past the Master’s bedroom into the library, and was surprised to see the moonlight glinting off of chess pieces.

“Getting some practice in, Norty?” said Eraqus, his voice reverberating slightly through the silence. He smiled as Xehanort jumped.

“I didn’t realize you were awake,” said Xehanort, his voice sounding oddly strained. “And please stop the ‘Norty’ thing, I really don’t like it.”

“Sorry Norty, I’ll keep that in mind,” said Eraqus as he plopped down in the seat across from Xehanort. “You’re pretty deep into it, huh?” Xehanort nodded.

“I’ve been having these strange thoughts lately,” he said, moving a piece forward.

“We talkin’ existential? Or something else?” Eraqus asked, thinking for a moment before moving a piece in turn. Xehanort frowned.

“I keep thinking back to my days on the island, before I came here.” Xehanort hovered his hand over the board, making small movements with his fingers as he planned. “I was a little obsessed with traveling.”

“What, did they not have cable cars or anything where you were from?”

“Well, we had boats, but that’s not really the point. The whole world was pretty much the same all around. I grew there, and I felt like I had seen all there was to see there. I wanted to see something new.” Xehanort rubbed his eyes before moving another piece.

“Then what?”

“I came here,” he said. Eraqus nodded.

“Right. I don’t really get what’s strange about that, though. I also think about my life before my training began sometimes, so it sounds pretty normal to me.”

“I just… want to see something more. Coming to a new world was so eye-opening, and I was satisfied for a while. But…” Xehanort’s expression froze over the pieces.

“You’re starting to feel the same way you did in your old world,” Eraqus said, looking down to move another piece. Xehanort nodded. “You could always break the rules and go to another world, you know?” Eraqus said with a lopsided smile.

“I could, but I feel like that’d lose its luster after some time,” Xehanort said, scratching the left side of his head.

“Speaking from personal experience?” asked Eraqus. Xehanort scratched his head again before silently moving another piece. Eraqus clenched his jaw before continuing. “So, hypothetically, say that you got bored of traveling the worlds scattered through the Ocean Between. What comes then?”

There was only the sound of wind passing through the high tower of the Castle and the quiet clacking of the chess pieces for what seemed like an eternity.

“A new experience, I suppose,” said Xehanort, finally speaking.

“A new experience? Like what?”

“Something no one has ever gone through before, maybe.”

“It sounds like you have something specific in mind,” said Eraqus. He kept his voice quiet and adjusted himself in his seat.

“How much do you know about Kingdom Hearts?” asked Xehanort.

“Not much,” said Eraqus, rubbing the back of his head and yawning. “I’ve only heard of it when the Master mentions it.”

“Liar.”

“Okay, okay, maybe I’ve done some light reading. What about it?” Eraqus glanced at the chalkboard in the room.

“I managed to dig up an old text about it deep in the archives,” said Xehanort. Eraqus clenched his jaw again--pupils were not allowed there without supervision.

“What does it say?”

“It’s hard to separate the fluff because there’s so much we just don’t know about Kingdom Hearts, but it does mention something that caught my eye. It says that when it’s reformed, it’ll create a new world, like nothing ever seen before.”

“That’s…” Eraqus paused.

“It’s interesting, right? What do you think that world would be like? Some of the other sources I’ve found say that Kingdom Hearts comes through a union of Light and Dark, so is that new world half Light and half Dark? Would it be a balance, or would it shift constantly? Or is it something else entirely?”

“Xehanort?”

“What would it be like to step into it? Would there even be ground to stand on? Do you think it’d be completely blank? Or would there be living things there already? Sentient beings, or just flora and fauna? What if-”

“Xehanort.” Eraqus said, his voice reverberating slightly. Xehanort jolted. He stopped and looked at Eraqus, then turned away.

The sound of wind returned for a short while.

“Sorry,” said Xehanort, still looking away. Eraqus could barely hear his voice.

“You were just getting loud,” said Eraqus, waving a hand. “I haven’t seen you get that excited in a really long time. It’s nice to see.”

“It’s just… intriguing, is all,” said Xehanort. “The texts also have a small line mentioning that no human could ever open the doors to this new world.”

“How would you end up stepping through them then?” Eraqus rested his head on the palm of his hand.

“Not in the literal sense. I think it means more that… any human who ends up doing this would become something more through the simple act of doing, a transcendence of sorts?

“Something more than human? Like a god?” said Eraqus, another crooked smile on his face. Xehanort frowned.

“Maybe not like a _god_ , but… something more. Maybe an actual change to the state of being, or maybe a change to the state of mind?” Xehanort trailed off.

“Well, regardless, being god of a world that’s half dark sounds awful to me.” Eraqus leaned back against his chair with his hands clasped behind his head.

“We’re not getting into this again,” said Xehanort, his voice more forceful than usual. “Anyway, being a _leader_ of anything doesn’t seem all too bad to me; it might be an interesting experience.” 

“You do like bossing people around already,” said Eraqus. Xehanort responded by throwing a chess piece at him. “Hey, stop that! I hope you remember where that piece was.”

“It doesn’t matter, we would’ve ended in a draw anyway,” Xehanort said, scratching the left side of his head. Eraqus gave him a look of disbelief.

“Sure, alright,” he said, raising his hands into the air as he leaned back in his seat. 

Xehanort rolled his eyes at Eraqus, then turned to look through the window on his left. A shooting star shone bright as it burst in the air, his eyes reflecting the purple light.

“Something more…” he said, inaudible over the rustling breeze.

**Author's Note:**

> this idea bounced around in my head as i was somewhat unsatisfied at the lack of onscreen movement for Xehanort's sudden plan at the end of KH3. decided to put it down on paper. thanks for reading ^-^


End file.
